CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE NUCLEAR SAFETY CULTURE

By

Jonathan Wert & John Fuoto

Effective nuclear safety culture characteristics include:

The safety culture program is championed by leaders who lead by the appropriate example

A safety ethic or mindset (a disciplined and committed way of thinking) that safety is the overriding priority

Ethical and truthful - people doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons

Has open and truthful communications at all levels - whether the news is good or bad

Leaders paying attention to people concerns and showing care and trust for people - workers are happy and proud of what they do

Encourages excellence and values knowledge and experience - training is rigorous to help achieve it

Leaders that recognize that they are no more important than anyone else - only that their decisions and actions will have more impact for good or for bad

Seeks to maintain and to enhance defense-in-depth with a healthy respect for safety margin preservation to account for Murphy's Law and for unknown conditions that may exist

Does the job right the first time - and when that doesn't happen, they FIX it right the first time

Pays attention to detail in all activities

Promotes a questioning attitude – no one is afraid to ask why, rigorously challenges any facilitating assumptions, dispels complacency

Recognizes that excellence is not a destination, it's a journey - continually "raises the bar" on what constitutes excellence to dispel arrogance and complacency

Is self-critical with the goal of continuous learning and continuous improvement

Results-oriented and holds the appropriate individuals accountable - rewards and recognizes appropriate behaviors, actions, and decisions at all levels

Leaders practice MBWA to see what is really going on and to provide continual, honest, two-way communication with workers

A true open communications or open door policy is practiced and is recognized as such by all workers

Recognizes that you get what you pay for - rewards based on long-term sustained improvement and achievement

Recognizes that the results you get are based on what you measure and what you measure reflects what you value. What gets measured gets managed and done.

Is concerned with accident prevention - hence it looks closely at near-misses and heeds industry experience

Recognizes that both risk and consequences must be properly accounted for when proceeding in the face of uncertainty

Recognizes that regulatory compliance is the ground level you are to be standing on, not a wall to be climbed over

Prefers to be proactive (prevention) rather than reactive (correction)

Work-arounds and operating with known degraded equipment are the exception and are tightly monitored, controlled and corrected in a timely manner

Knows its design and its configuration and pays due consideration to the preservation of plant history and the experience base so that potential changes can be rigorously and knowledgably reviewed prior to their implementation

Conflicts and employee concerns are addressed promptly and fairly – safety conscious work environment (scwe) there is: a work environment in which workers feel free to raise concerns

Proper behaviors tied to achieving worthwhile results equates to performance.

See: Organizational and Nuclear Safety Culture (Assessment and Improvement), 1987, Revised 1993 & 2003, J. Wert & J. Fuoto, MDI, P.O. Box 240, Port Royal, PA 17082-0240.

See NSAG-4. A healthy safety culture requires an underlying commitment to doing the right things at the right time for the right reasons that drives the process. It requires following rigorous processes, i.e. regulations.   A perfect process without the requisite ethics, knowledge and commitment does not make for effective nuclear safety culture.  That is why merely having an Appendix B or ISO-9000 program is not enough to be effective.  What it really comes down to is that effective NSC requires LEADERSHIP, not merely management. Without the appropriate leadership, you have a situation like a bunch of rats running through a maze to find the cheese!

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